So last Monday I started my new diet on a quest to lose 40 pounds. I’m sure all seven of you that read my story have been eagerly awaiting an update on my progress. Well…are you ready? My results so far have been pretty similar to the last several times I started a new diet. Yes I know, they aren’t called diets these days. It’s a lifestyle change…or something like that. The bad news is I wasn’t quite perfect on my new eating and exercise program as I had planned.

WHAT WENT RIGHT?

I did quite well through the first four days of the week. I logged my weight each morning using the My Fitness Pal app, as well as recording all of my meals. I also didn’t forget to log the one minute of burpees I did. I even drank my 100 plus ounces of water, and that actually continued throughout the rest of the week. As someone who enjoys his soda, doing so well on the water drinking is a nice positive that I can put down from this most recent attempt. To top it off, I actually didn’t gain any additional weight for the week.

WHAT WENT WRONG

I also didn’t lose any weight at the end of my first week. Now I wonder why that was? It might have had something to do with deciding on Friday evening that I could just have one dinner out with the family. I’m not sure exactly how that dinner ended up with my eating most of my own food, and maybe just a chicken tender or two that the kids didn’t want. My lovely wife had a delicious steak that she just couldn’t finish, so I just had to try a bite…or maybe five of them. Finally, we had a bit of frozen custard for dessert. Ok that was a lie. It was one of those jumbo cups, and I ate it all. In my mind, I’m justifying this because it all just counts as one free meal. I’ll save you the details, but Saturday and Sunday weren’t much better. I had every intention of starting over again on Saturday, but for some reason I couldn’t say no to those freshly baked, and still warm doughnuts. The exercising didn’t go so well either. Does this stuff happen to everybody, or is it just me?

IT’S MONDAY AGAIN…AND THIS TIME I HAVE A BETTER PLAN

This past week could have definitely gone better for me, but I’m not one to give up just yet. As I mentioned in my initial post, failing to lose the weight isn’t an option. Being in my mid forties and already with high blood pressure and cholesterol, it is time to make a change. I have all my meals planned and prepped for the week, as well as some protein shakes and bars in case I am out and about at meal time. I also ran across a company called HealthyWage, which will pay you for losing weight. While plenty of other things should be motivating me, thus far those other things haven’t done a sufficient job with helping me get this weight off. I may as well try getting paid to lose some weight. After all, I’ve tried weight loss challenges with friends before and have won a couple times. Having a prize at the end has given me that extra push in the past. I am confident it will work this time.

HOW DOES HEALTHYWAGE WORK?

Why am I so confident? Because of the fact that I signed up for HealthyWage and wagered $75 per month for seven months that I would lose 28 pounds. Since I really want to lose 40 pounds, this leaves me a bit of wiggle room. If I don’t lose the weight, our favorite mom of nine kids is not gonna be happy with me, and none of us want that. She actually is very supportive and was all for me signing up, but I am smart enough to know that not reaching my goal is not an option. You see with HealthyWage, you essentially bet on yourself. It is free to sign up, and when you do, it brings up a calculator that lets you plug in the amount you want to lose(at least 10% of your body weight) and how long you would like your challenge to last(can be as little as six months, or as many as 18). It’s kind of fun to mess with, so I definitely recommend checking it out. If you sign up, and ultimately decide to compete in a challenge, please feel free to use this link. They have an excellent referral program that will pay both you and I $40 if you commit to one of their challenges. In my case, I will get a payout of $723 and it will cost me a total of $525, for a net profit of $198. That is a pretty decent profit, but I think it is the fact that I really don’t want to lose the $525 that will force me to stick to the plan this time. I won’t give a full review at this time, but I did do quite a bit of research to make sure this is all legit. HealthyWage has been spotlighted on the Today show, as several other shows. They have also received an A+ grade from the Better Business Bureau.

Thank you for reading, and I’ll be sure to keep everyone updated on my progress. Please let me know if you have done this program, and how you did with it. Feel free to leave comments on any successes and struggles you have had regarding your own weight loss.

If you are anything like our family, where you eat often depends on what day of the week it is. We know we can go most anywhere on Tuesdays, but your options are far more limited the rest of the week. While there may not be as many places you can go for the freebies on the other days, there are still a number of choices. Keep the list below handy to help you plan for those times when you want to take the family out for a meal.

Please note that offers may vary by location. I recommend calling the location that you will be visiting to verify if the promotion is valid in your area. Feel free to leave comments if you know of other establishments that free or discounted kids meals that are not on our list.

Everyday

IHOPEach day from April 11th through May 6th, you can get one free kids meal with the purchase of an adult entree.

O’CharleysEach day from April 11th through May 6th, you can get one free kids meal with the purchase of an adult entree.

Sunday

HootersYou can get up to 2 free kids meals with the purchase of an adult entree on Sundays.

Steak ‘n ShakeOn Saturdays and Sundays, you can get a free kids meal for every $9 you spend.

White CastleYou can get free kids meal with the purchase of a $4 adult meal on Sundays.

Monday

FuddruckersYou can get $0.99 kids meals on Mondays from 4-9 with purchase of an adult entree. Offer also applies on Tuesdays.

Golden CorralYou can get up to 2 $0.99 kids buffets on Monday through Thursday with the purchase of each adult entree.

Red RobinYou can get a free kids meal with the purchase of an adult entree on Mondays.

Tuesday

Backyard BurgersYou can get a free kids meal on Tuesday after 4 with purchase of an adult combo.

Bob EvansYou can get a free kids meal on Tuesdays after 4 with purchase of an adult combo.

Chic-fil-AKids eat free on Tuesday from 5:30 to 7:30 with the purchase of an adult meal.

Denny’sKids eat free after 4 on Tuesdays with purchase of an adult entree. You can get up to 2 kids meals per adult entree.

Famous Dave’sYou can get free kids meals on Tuesdays with the purchase of an adult entree.

Fazoli’sKids eat free all day on Tuesday with purchase of an adult entree.

Firehouse SubsKids eat free all day on Tuesday with purchase of an adult combo meal. This is our absolute favorite because at our location, we do not have to dine in. You can also get 2 free kids meals with each adult combo. Check the location near you, but the Firehouse Subs near us also does this same promotion on Wednesdays.

FuddruckersYou can get $0.99 kids meals on Mondays from 4-9 with purchase of an adult entree. Offer also applies on Mondays.

Golden CorralYou can get up to 2 $0.99 kids buffets on Monday through Thursday with the purchase of each adult entree.

Lonestar SteakhouseYou can get up to 2 free kids meals with the purchase of an adult entree all day on Tuesdays.

McAlister’s DeliKids eat free on Tuesday after 5 with the purchase of an adult entree.

Pizza HutYou can get a free kids buffet for each adult buffet you purchase.

Pollo TropicalKids eat free all day on Tuesday with purchase of an adult meal.

PonderosaKids can eat free from 4 to 9 on Tuesdays with the purchase of an adult entree. This is another place where you can get up to 2 kids eat free for each adult meal you buy.

Ruby TuesdayKids eat free all day on Tuesday with purchase of an adult entree.

Texas RoadhouseYou can get a free kids meal with the purchase of an adult entree on Tuesdays after 4.

Wednesday

Firehouse SubsKids eat free all day on Tuesday with purchase of an adult combo meal. This is our absolute favorite because at our location, we do not have to dine in. You can also get 2 free kids meals with each adult combo. Check the location near you, but the Firehouse Subs near us runs this promotion on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Golden CorralYou can get up to 2 $0.99 kids buffets on Monday through Thursday with the purchase of each adult entree.

Thursday

Captain D’sKids eat free all day on Thursday with the purchase of an adult meal. You can get two kids meals for each meal that you buy.

Ryan’sYou can get up to 2 kids buffets for $0.99 for each adult meal that you purchase.

Golden CorralYou can get up to 2 $0.99 kids buffets on Monday through Thursday with the purchase of each adult entree.

Friday

We are not aware of any restaurants that offer free or discounted meals, other than those that do so everyday.

Saturday

Steak ‘n ShakeOn Saturdays and Sundays, you can get a free kids meal for every $9.00 you spend.

Deciding on a baby name can be a pretty difficult decision, at least it was for us. Personally we prefer names that are a bit more unusual than what you would find in the top 100, but also not so unusual that they are ridiculous. Well I’m sure some probably think some of our children’s names are ridiculous, but those are the parents that name their kids Jane or Bill…not that there is anything wrong with those names. They just aren’t our preference. Here are some of our favorite girl names that can be found among the top 1000. Let us know if you like them… or if you don’t. What are some of your favorite girl names that would be considered unique?

My name is Steve and I am the dad of this group. I’ve had high blood pressure and high cholesterol in the past, but in recent years I had gotten it under control by eating a healthier diet. We recently returned from vacation, where I didn’t eat so good, and after a visit to the doctor, I’ve learned that my numbers have crept up on me again. I have nine children that I would like to see grow up, and I’m sure they would like to see me stick around as well. I’ve tried diets here and there over the years, but never seem to stick with them for more than a month or two. My job is pretty sedentary, so I don’t get up and move as often as I should. Over the next few months, I am going to document my progress and provide frequent updates on how I am doing. I currently weigh 195 and really should be closer to 155, which is a weight I haven’t been since high school. I am not going to do any type of fad diet. I am simply going to try to exercise each day, and eat healthy by cutting out the saturated fat and bad carbs to see if I can lose the weight. In addition to just getting healthy in general, we also have family pictures scheduled in July…and I need to look good for those. I will be tracking how much I exercise and what I eat, as well as inches lost and the amount of weight I am losing, so please be sure to follow along. Hopefully by putting this out here for all to see, that will hold me accountable to stay on task. I am getting to the age where heart attacks happen, so there is no more delaying. Of course, this will start on Monday…because all diets must start on Monday.

Thank you for taking the time to visit us. As you might imagine, it can get a little crazy around here. We have 9 kids that range in age from 1 to 20, so we have seen it all. At least I say that…until tomorrow when something new and unimaginable will probably happen. It is always loud here, and new messes are being made while this one is being cleaned up. We get asked all the time how we do it. We also get asked if we know what causes that. If I had a dollar for every time I’ve been asked that…well let’s just say we would be quite rich. Back to how we manage with all these kids. Having a lot of patience is key, but also staying organized, and having tons of fun!